Hurt
by Kihin Ranno
Summary: Her world was falling down around her, and all she could think about was that her wrists were hurting.


Hurt  
Sailor Moon Monthly Fanfiction Challenge on LiveJournal  
July Challenge - Day Four: Kidnapped  
by Kihin Ranno  
1/1

Her wrists hurt.

Her world was falling down around her, and all she could think about was that her wrists were hurting.

She couldn't be blamed of course. The bindings were too tight and her arms were drawn back in a faux crucifixion pose while she knelt on the floor. She was allowed to register her pain, to wish it would go away, to think of how nice it would be when it was gone.

But Naru was beginning to obsess about it.

Then again, it was better than thinking about the why.

Nephrite's friends - she used that term loosely - were holding her hostage. They'd stolen her from her bed, punched her, kicked her, ripped her clothes, and carried her off to wherever it was that she was, leering at her every now and again to make sure she was still afraid.

Of course she was still afraid. Just because she was getting used to being evil's favorite punching bag didn't mean that it was any less terrifying. Sometimes she wanted to cry, but then she just focused on her wrists. Because while they throbbed, they didn't ache so much as to make her want to weep, and she had no intention of crying in front of her captors.

They said that they had left him a note. If he ever wanted to see her alive again, he'd need to come and surrender something to them. She hadn't heard exactly what it was.

His life?

She wondered if her wrists would start to bleed soon. If they'd slice through her skin and the main artery and she'd bleed all over the room. A red pool would form around her, her life slowly gushing (could anything gush slowly?) out of her veins while her kidnappers looked on. Would they be ambivalent or would they laugh?

She wondered if they bled. If they were human enough.

She wondered if he bled. If he was human enough.

She closed her eyes thought about pain. Sharp, physical, tangible, but not overwhelming. She could deal with the pain they had given her already. That was easy.

It was the pain to come that might yet kill her.

Naru knew that he would come for her. Even if he didn't actually love her, even if she was little more than a star-struck kid to him, she knew that he cared for her in some way. She knew it deep down in her bones. It was unbelievably clear that he cared, and even if it wasn't as much as she cared for him, that didn't matter. It was affection. Emotion.

A human trait, she noted.

Naru knew this, and yet she was afraid. There was a chance – always a chance – that she was wrong. Maybe it had all been an act. Maybe he had been using her all along. Maybe he would leave her hanging there until her wrists could no longer stand it and the bindings sliced right through skin and bone, cutting off her hands.

She closed her eyes and decided not to think about her wrists or the pain anymore.

She wanted him to come. She needed him to come. Not just to save her or as a test of affection. She needed him there in the hopes that he would hold her for a moment, somehow making all of her pain vanish for just a moment while locked in his arms. She just wanted one perfect moment with him where she didn't have to worry about… any of the things she usually had to worry about.

Selfishly, she would have liked for him to kiss her.

But that was childish. She couldn't expect that from him. It was asking too much.

She knew that.

She still wanted it though.

"Nephrite…" she whispered, foolishly hoping he'd hear her.

One of her captors snorted. "Don't be stupid, girl. No one can hear you down here."

Naru looked up to say something, though what she would have the courage to say to a would-be killer was beyond her. However, she was interrupted. She looked up at a sudden noise. A door opening and boots coming down the stairs. She recognized the outline of his shadow before she saw so much as a wisp of his hair or the tip of his nose.

It was probably the wrong thing to do all things considered, but she couldn't help but smile.


End file.
